Kathe Kollwitz

Sorry there has not been much blogging lately but sometimes barriers pop up that you have little control over. A little time out was needed and I'm now back in the swing of things. I really admire this artists work.......it can be a bit depressive so I've chosen a portrait in profile without too much emotion to begin with.

Kathe Kollwitz (1867 - 1945) was a German artist best known for her printmaking and her vast range of tonal work. She was also a socialist who hoped her powerful and graphic art works would have an effect on how ordinary people viewed their world and hoped it would move people to action. I first came across her work last year when researching print makers for college and this year she is one of the artists I've chosen to look at for observational drawing.

Wilhelmine Mohr  Kathe Kollwitz

Charcoal

I chose this drawing because I liked the strong tonal values especially around the eye and also I wanted to work in charcoal.

The shape of the forehead is too sloped and the chin and lips are a bit prominent. I need to put more shading under the chin. The texture of the paper in my sketchbook is very smooth but the paper used in the original is quite textured. I preferred that effect so for the next drawing I switched to pastel paper.

The paper was grey so I continued with charcoal and also used white conte pastel to add highlights. The forehead is still a little short and the chin a bit prominent but I think it's becoming more like the original. It definitely helped using the pastel paper.

It's amazing how different the drawings look when they are loaded up on the blog. Mistakes and differences are much more obvious and it's a real benefit to learning.

The Clearing

This is the photograph taken near St Fillans in Perthshire

And these are the paintings by Piet Mondrian. The first one I saw at the Van Gogh to Kandinsky exhibition and loved the free style, the colour combinations and the symbolism involved.

Woods near Oele 1908

Wood with Beech Trees 1899

I'm really attracted to the tall vertical lines and the strong colours so with this in mind here is my finished (maybe!!) landscape

Unlike Mondrian's trees, my trees dissolve into the atmosphere for whatever reason you care to think of. I have my reasons and you will have yours.

I'm not entirely sure about the wall...I thought it was too dark but on reflection I think that it balances the painting. If I took it out or chopped the painting in half the composition would be similar to Mondrian's Wood with Beech Trees.

Think I'll call this one The Clearing......it suits the image, the symbolism and the reason for posting.

"I can't quite imagine what you're doing"

When my tutor said this last week I had a fleeting thought that this was perhaps not a good thing to hear. Not to worry, I reassured myself ... artists are allowed to be a bit vague. A traceable line of inquiry is all that is needed. If my inner voice is telling me to do this then that should be OK....it's my inner voice after all and that's what the unit is about.

Unfinished Landscape

Acrylic on Mount Board

16" x 23"

So in an attempt to get my act together with my "Inner Voice" and to reassure my tutor, I stopped researching (wasting my time) and got on with painting. This painting did not start life like this. It evolved as I worked. It's a reaction to my thought processes. It's bigger than the little studies I have done so far but I'd like it to be bigger still. It's painted in acrylics and I'd like it to be oils. I plan the finished pieces to be in oil.

My inspiration started with a photograph taken of a landscape near St Fillans in Perthshire and also the landscapes of the dutch painter Piet Mondrian. I plan to finish the painting tomorrow and post it along with the original photograph and images by Piet Mondrian. Of course it may have changed completely by the time it reaches my blog.

Day 3 Sketch a Day

Today I decided to sketch using the reed pens I made when I was researching Van Gogh's drawings. I used two pens, one thick and the other slightly thinner.

I read that if you soak the reed pens in water for a couple of hours then they hold more ink so I gave this a try and it seemed to work. I started with the poppy seeds and then moved on to a sunflower head which I lay on its side

The sunflower was really complicated with lots of dead petals leaves and seeds. The idea for these sketches is to work fairly quickly so I tried to get down enough information in less than 10 minutes. I'm pleased with the result.

Time for a change of subject matter.....found this man reading in the conservatory.....just perfect for my next sketch. I concentrated on the head only this time. By now I was feeling more confident with the pens and I could judge the amount of ink they held which helped with the mark making. I was pleased with this sketch. I did think about adding more marks but felt that the composition worked well as it was.

I have to admit it's immensely satisfying working with tools that you have made yourself. The whole experience felt more organic, almost like the pen was an extension of my own fingers. Some may find having to renew the ink an interruption to the flow but you just have to look at the drawings of Van Gogh and wonder at the fluidity of his mark making.

Day 2 Sketch a Day

Managed another two sketches today. They only took about 5 - 10 minutes at the most. I continued with the line drawing in ink theme and allowed myself to check my position occasionally on the portrait. The other one was done in my garden using a dip pen and ink and finished with an ink wash.

It amazes me how without looking at the drawing I managed to get the perspective of the arms looking fairly accurate.

The difference with this drawing is that I looked more closely at the drawing rather than letting my hand follow my eyes around the images. Despite adding some tone I think the image is flat and less lively and less appealing than the others.

A Sketch a Day

A sketch a day shouldn't be difficult to achieve but committing to post it on my blog somehow turns a simple task into something quite scary. Anyway here goes.........

Still Life  Blind Ink Drawing

Apple Orange and Poppy Seed Heads

Still Life 2 Blind Ink Drawing

Glass with Poppy Seed Heads

I love the naivety and fragility of these drawings. This technique gives me permission to loosen up and the drawings then become full of life which would not have happened if I had allowed my perfectionism to take over. It takes away the fear of making a mistake ....there are no wrong marks. Suddenly it's ok to use pen. I don't have to rub out. I am drawing every line as my eye follows it. My hand can only take instructions from my eyes and I draw exactly what I see.

Picasso and Modern British Art

        

Last week we visited this exhibition at The Scottish Gallery of Modern Art and it has to be one of the best exhibitions I have ever attended. I was familiar with Picasso's work but my knowledge of the extent and versatility of his work was very limited. The exhibition examined the influence of his work on British artists but I had no idea what I was about to experience. Each room presented the ever changing forms styles and colours of Picasso's work alongside that of the British artists he influenced in one way or another.

I hadn't researched the exhibition before the visit so each room was a complete surprise. Highlights for me were the rooms containing the work of Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore and strangely Francis Bacon whose work has never really grabbed my attention before. Of course David Hockney has to be mentioned here too.

If I had to choose one Picasso which stood out for me it would have to be this one

Pablo Picasso  The Three Dancers  1925

Oil on Canvas  

Three different forms suggesting different dance forms, ballet, Jazz, Latin, yet linked together holding hands. Apparently an energetic play on a love triangle. The work is large 215.3 x 142.2 and the colours strong and vibrant.

It is really hard to choose one piece of work from the British artists as there were many highlights but I've chosen this work from Ben Nicholson

Ben Nicholson (painting - trout) 1924

Oil on Canvas

This painting was beautiful. Subtle overlapping pastel colours and shapes which shimmered on the canvas balanced by the stronger shapes and colours top left and right. I associated Ben Nicholson with white geometric shapes but his use of colour here was captivating....loved it.

There were many many more I could blog about (150 in the whole exhibition) but only two for today. They need to be savoured. Hope you like them.